Daily Bulletin: Centre on high alert over Kerala rains; newly-elected Pakistan Parliament to meet for first time; CSO to push out inflation data for July; today's top stories

Kerala rains: After being battered by rains for the last few days, there was a brief let-up in the downpour on Sunday in Kerala, but the government is on high alert with IMD predicting heavy rainfall for the next four days rains. The toll in Kerala's monsoon fury since 8 August climbed to 37. On Sunday night, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh announced Rs 100 crore assistance as an immediate central relief terming the flood situation in Kerala as something never witnessed by the state since Independence.

Newly-elected Pakistan parliament to meet for first time: Pakistan's newly-elected Parliament is meeting on Monday for the first time to start the process of transition and handing over powers to the new government. President Mamnoon Hussain has already summoned the maiden session of National Assembly, the lower house, at 10 am in Parliament House. According to law, the speaker of the previous Assembly, Ayaz Sadiq, will administer the oath to the new lawmakers, followed by election of the speaker and the deputy speaker. After the election of the new speaker, the outgoing speaker will give him the oath and hand over charge of the new house. Prime Minister-in-waiting Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) emerged as the single largest party with 116 seats in the 25 July election.

File image of Prime Minister-in-waiting Imran Khan. AP

Somnath Chatterjee on ventilator support: The health of former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee continued to be in a critical state. The CPM veteran is suffering from kidney ailment and was put on ventilator support on Saturday. The 89-year-old was re-admitted to hospital on 10 August following the slight decline in his health. Chatterjee, who is one of the longest-serving parliamentarians in India, has not been not keeping well from the past few months.

Pro-Khalistan rally in UK: Hundreds of people turned out at Trafalgar Square on Sunday in support of a pro-Khalistan rally as well as to counter the event with an Independence Day celebration. The "We Stand With India" and "Love My India" events were organised by Indian diaspora groups as a reaction to the pro-Khalistan "London Declaration for a Referendum 2020". The pro-India group, confined to a demarcated area of the square away from the anti-India rally, waved the Indian tricolour and placards reading "India Jai Ho" and "Vande Mataram" and beat their dhols in an attempt to drown out some of the speeches in favour of the so-called Referendum 2020.

Inflation data: The CSO will push out CPI inflation data for the month of July on Monday. Analysts expect July’s print to stand at 4.51 percent. India’s retail inflation rate accelerated to a five-month high of five percent in June, on higher fuel prices and a depreciating rupee.

Brands announce list of smartphones eligible for Android 9 Pie update: HTC confirmed on Sunday that it will release Google Android Pie update to four of its phones, including the HTC U11 Life Android One series. Until now, HTC, OnePlus, Essential and Nokia have confirmed the devices which would be eligible for the Android Pie update. Through the next week, similar announcements from other brands are awaited.

Tracking Parker Solar Probe's path: On Sunday afternoon, NASA blasted off a $1.5 billion spacecraft toward the Sun on a historic mission to protect the Earth by unveiling the mysteries of dangerous solar storms. But before reaching the Sun, there are scores of other things the Parker Solar Probe has to take care of, such as exiting Earth's atmosphere on its planned trajectory. By Monday, and through the week, it will be clear if the everything is on track — literally.

IFFM Awards: Rajkumar Hirani's Sanju, on Sunday, walked away with the Best Film honour at the IFFM Awards night, where Manoj Bajpayee won the Best Actor for his yet-to-release Gali Guleiyan and Rani Mukerji was named Best Actress for her performance in Hichki. Rani, who impressed with her performance as a woman faced with Tourette's Syndrome in Hichki, walked away with two honours at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) as she was also bestowed an 'Excellence In Cinema' award.